Heel-finishing machine.



A. BAT S. HEEL FINISHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED OUT. 16, 1908.

Patentedfiec. 22

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. BATES. HEEL FINISHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 00116, 1908.

mww.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

TED s'rans PAENT onrion ARTHUR BATES, 0F LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHO E MACHINERY COMPANY, 01? PATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

HEEL-FINISHING MACHINE.

Specification 01 Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

Application filed October 16,1908. Serial 110.458.0911;

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ARTHUR BAjrEs,ja subject of the King of England, residing at Leicester, in the county of Leicester, England, have invented certain Improvements in Heel-Finishing Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines'for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes and particularly to machines for finishing the edges or other portions of heels and soles.

An object of the invention is to provide a compact machine comprising a series of finishing members or appliances arrangedin such relative position that a heel edge, for example, can be presented to said devices for surface finishing operations in proper sequence and with a minimum of travel or movement in going from operative relation to one device to operative relation to another.

Other characteristic features of the invention include the wax feeding mechanism, the wax applying roll, the arrangements for heating said roll and a novel apparatus for making local applications of wax to portions of the stock requiring special attention.

These and other features of the invention will be more fully understood from the fol.- lowing description of the machine in which the invention is shown as embodied and will be finally pointed out in the claims.

Figure l is an end elevation of the machine, Fig. 2 is a plan view, Fig. 3 is a sec-' several tools which, for convenience, will be described in the order in which it is contemplated that they will be used. The shaft 5, upon which a wax applying wheel 10 is mounted, carries a large pulley 6 which is driven by a belt 7 from a small pulley on a drivingshaft 8 near the foot of the machine. The Wheel 10, which is'shown in partial section in Fig. 5, has a wide rim on which is formed a clrcumferentlal flange 12 against which the wax applying roll 14 is clamped by a movable flange 15 held in position by screws 16. Th1s roll 14 is preferably formed from a tubular piece of coarse, loosely woven,

tough, high ribbed fabric rolled upon itself as shown, and form separate rubbing surfaces between which the wax is carried.

The porous nature of the fabric of which the roll is made adapts the roll to absorb a considerable quantity of wax and its loosely woven character adapts it for readily giving off the wax to the work presented against it. The clamping flange 15 not only holds the roll in place on the wheel but also retains the fabric in its rolled-up condition. The wheel 10 is formed with an open inner end or an annular recess in its inner or right hand face as may be seen from Fig. 5. A gas pipe 18, or other suitable burner, extends laterally into the wheel from'its inner side and thus heats the roll and maintains the wax with which it is saturated in molten condition. The wheel and roll are partially surrounded and inclosed by a shield 20 which assists in maintaining the wax on the surface of the roll in heated condition. The shield is supported from an axle or rod 22 which also forms the fulcrum for a lever 24 that has a wax receptacle or recess in its front end. This lever 24: contains bearings for a Wheel 25 shaped somewhat like a spool with a peripheral or acting face adapted to embrace the roll 1 1 and shape or re-shape that roll if its contour has been distorted by the pressure of the work against it. The wheel 25 dips into the wax in the wax holder and therefore has the function of transfer-ring wax to the roll 14. The wax in the holder is maintained in molten condition by the gas flame from a burner 26. The wax holder is formed with a laterally projecting throat as shown in Fig. 5 into which pieces or'sticks of unmelted wax may be fed. The side of the wax holder adjacent to the throat is cut away, as indicated at 27 in Fig. 4:, to provide communication between the throat and the chamber in which the wheel 25 turns. The 'wax holder and the wheel 25 normally stand in the position shown, or in r t at it needs 're-forming. H M In using the machine, particularly for V i port the wax spreading rolls the relation to the roll 14 that is illustrated but are, adapted to be 'movedby rocking the leverj24'into position 7 fOI' the p ;roll' and apply; wax to it. This movement other, mperfections in the wheel 25 to embrace and finishing cheap shoes in which pieced heels a're'employed, an operator frequently has to fill cracks between the pieced heel lifts or surface of the is purpose an auxiliary Wax supported above theheel; or 'th holder 40 is to/the heel being treated. This auxiliary waxholde'r has an outlet 42 communicating with a valvevchamber 44 in which a piston 45 'isslidingly by spring 46 in rom escaping. w ardly from the wax'holder into position for the'operatorfto engage it with the shoe at the point where he desires the localapplication of wax; The plunger is provided with a, longitudinal bore or "opening which communicates through a transverse opening with the guide'way in which the head of the plunger works. By pressingthe shoe 7 against the plunger thelatter'is forced into its 7 e g through theoutlet42 with the fluid 40 guideway, opening communication wax in the auxiliaryholder which thus flows down the 'outlet 42 whereupon the molten wax flows through the openingin the plunger to the desired point on the shoe. The spring 46 returns the plunger to position for shutting offthe flow of wax assoon as the shoe is Withdrawn. A flame maintainszthewax in the holder 'inmolten condition and V slightly inth'e 7 two s'preadingrolls are arranged with: their in Fig. 1, topermit by heating the metal partsof the "holder and sage through the plunger open so that the wax] flowsgfreely therethrough when the plunger is forced into; its guideway.

In front of the wax applying wheel 10 'and; to theright therefrom, a'sjappears in 50 which sup- Fig. 2, are mounted the shafts i 52 arranged one above. the other,

rear of the lower one. 'The adjacent: edges in close'pr'oximity, as shown the heel thrust into ,the

, 1 angle between them :to haveiits, opposite sides acted upon simultaneously by pressing es the heel rearwardly between the rolls and swinging thetoeend of the shoe upwardly shape the make local applications of wax is 7 much higher speed casion to make a local application of the wax .the wax applying wheeli at mounted and normally held position to prevent the wax 7 he piston 45 projects out-- wax on the two sides of the heel Wheels 62 are arranged as shown from a gas pipe 48.

plungerkeeps the wax pasthe upper. one being' Tuttle to which reference may be made.

The entire edge surface of the heel can be very quickly subjected to the operation of he spreading rolls. 'These rolls may be of any suitable formation to adapt them for other purposes as for example-they may brush provided with a comprise a circular canvas cover. The wax spreading rolls are driven'by a belt 54 which is looped over pulleys on the shafts 50 asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and extends around a relatively 8 so. that th e spreading rolls are driven at a than the wax applying of course, desirable to drive such alow speed that there will be no tendency for the molten wax to be thrown'ofi by'centrifugal force. The spreading rolls 52, however, may, with advantage, be driven much more rapidly in order that they may work the wax into the surface of the heel more quickly. The advantages resulting'fro'm' applying the wax by a slow moving and workingit into the surface of the stock by a rapidly rotatingwheel, or wheels, much more than compensate for the use of spread- Wheel. 10. It is,

ing wheels for performing the second of the two operations and especially is this true when a pair of spreading wheels are em ployed. as herein shown for spreading the at the same time.

Shafts for supporting wax in advance of and to the right of the wax spreading rolls. These comprise brushesrmade of softbristles or maybe of'any othersuitable construction for their purpose and these wheels are also arranged as described in said Tuttle patent to treat the two sides of a heel simultane- Iously. The polishing wheels are driven by a belt looped about small pulleys on the shafts .60 and extending about apulley 66.

onv the shaft 8 which is substantially larger than the pulley whichdrives the belt 54 and the] waxspreading wheels. This arrange ment gives tothe polishing wheels a substantially greater speed than is given to the spreading wheels. as it is found that the polishing operation canbe carried on advantageously by wheels driven more rapidly than the wax spreading Wheels should be The further finishing device ocdriven.

large pulley on the driving shaft.

wheel and spreading it.

ill

-70 and 71 mounted on a shaft 72 which is driven by a belt 74 from a pulle on one of the shafts 60. The beading too 70 is fast on the shaft 72. while the milling tool is loose I on the shaft. Th'ese beading and millin devices will preferably be constructed an arranged as in U. S. Letters, Patent N 0. 739,857 to H. W. Gould.

It will be understood from the foregoing description and drawings that the several devices to be employed in finishing a heel are so formed and relatively arranged that an operator standing obliquely in front of a machine can, with little or no change of the position in which he stands, present the shoe to all of the tools in their proper order or succession. This enables the heel finishing operation to be very rapidly carried'out and the provision of and wax polishing wheels still further accelcratcs the operation. Local applications of wax from the auxiliary holder for filling cracks or crevices in a heel, or for other purposes, may be conveniently made either before a heel is presented to the wax applying wheel or after that operation. Whenever it is desired to replenish the supply of wax on the roll 14, or whenever the roll becomes distorted or misshapen by the pressure of the work against it the re-forming and wax supplying wheel 25 is lifted and pressed against the roll 14 by manipulating thetreadle 30. The workman then thrusts the heel between the rapidly turning wax spreading Wheels 52 guiding it against the tread rest 53and by swinging the toe end of the shoe upwardly and downwardly. a

few times while the heel is held pressed against the spreading rolls the frictional heat effects the spreading of the wax on the two sides of the heel at the same time and gets it thoroughlyworked into the'surface of the heel. This having been satisfactorily accomplished the heel is thrust bctween'the polishing wheels 62 and the toe end of the shoe is swung upwardly and downwardly to subject the entire edge surface to the action of the polishing brushes. The heel is then presented to the beading and milling tools, the shoe being so positioned and turned that the beading tool enters and runs about the heel in the rand crease while the milling tool rolls over the edge of the heel and forms a line of indentations adjacent to the heel seat end of the heel, thus completpairs of wax spreading 'a wheels as it wheel.

ing in one operation and. with one handling of the shoe the entire heel finishing process while the operator remains, in substantially one'position. 1

riction wax finishing process is by this machine effected in three steps by three devices, viz. the wax applying wheel, the wax spreading and working-in wheels and the polishing hwhcels driven at different speeds; whereby the most efie'ctive applying, spreading and polishing of the wax is secured.- It

will also be noted that the wheels 52 which work the wax into the heel and evenly spread it are dependent entirely upon fric-; tion heat for maintaining in softened conn will be observed that the so called dition the wax with which their covers become saturated and the'wax on-the surface being treated. This is one reason why it is advantageous to drive them much faster thanfit has heretofore seemed practical to vices. "No tread rest is shown with these is often advantageous to rock the shoc laterally between these wheels and entire freedom to do so is desirable.

Having explained this invention and dcscribed a preferred construction of mechanism embodying the same, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. A heel finishing machine having in combination a wax applying wheel havinga yielding working surface, a wax holder, means for heating the holder to maintain the wax therein m a molten condition,-a wheel 25' supported by said holder adapted to run in the molten wax and havinga pcripheral face transversely concaved to adapt it for 'rc-shaping the yielding face of the wax applying wheel, and means for moving the wax holder and wheel 25 together from and toward the wax applying wheel dur-' ing the operation of the machine. a

2. A heel finishing machine having, in combination, a wheel, a wax applying member comprising a spirally rolled tubular portion of ribbed fabric, and means for clamping said'roll pen the periphery of said In testimonywhcreof I have-signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR BATES. Witnesses:

GRACE HOLMES,

ARTHUR ERNEST J ERRAM.

'drive wheels which combined the functions] of wax applying and wax spreading dey as v 

